As you launch your new online product or service I’m sure you’re excited to get some real-world feedback. Perhaps you’re launching a private beta, or maybe you’re going full bore and opening up the floodgates to the whole world. No matter what you do, don’t give those initial users too much credit.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m bashing early adopters, because I’m most certainly not. It’s just that early adopters carry a lot of weight, and if you don’t communicate your vision for the new channel well enough, early adopters can take you way off track.

Here’s what you need to consider

In the first three phases of your channel’s New Media Life Cycle, you need to remember that the quality of your content is going to determine your channel’s success. Avoid adding features and functions that do not enhance your user’s ability to create better content — especially during the experimentation phase.

You will get lots of great ideas from people who see the long-term potential of your channel. For example, the first day you go live, someone (probably this guy) will tell you that you need to integrate your new channel with Twitter. He may be right. You may already know this. But don’t do it until you’re confident that the content generated on your platform is of value. When it is, integrate it. Go for it.

Before your development team gets too excited about integrating a new feature or function, make sure you help them answer these questions:

1. Will this feature or function help our user base create higher-quality content on our channel?
2. Does this feature or function increase our exposure before we’re ready?
3. Why is this feature or function request being submitted? (Sometimes, integration ideas are actually a cry from users to help them bring friends they can interact with into this new channel.) Perhaps multi-channel integration is not the best way to do this.
4. Is this feature already in our development plan? (If so, is there any reason to rush its integration?)
5. How can we more clearly state the vision for our channel in the context of responding to this enhancement request?

Stay focused on the creation of valuable content

Remember, to be successful as a new media channel, you must stay focused on first adding value to the existing environment through the valuable content your users generate. Only after you’ve seen the kind of quality content you expect on the channel should you begin increasing your reach.